Arsenal Vs Bournemouth: What progress can Mikel Arteta show?

Arsenal travel to Bournemouth for Mikel Arteta’s first game in charge on Boxing Day. What progress can we expect under the new head coach?

It is a little foolish to expect major change from a head coach in their first game. Obviously, they will make slight adjustments here and there, they might pick a slightly different team to the one before, they will prefer different players in different roles with a new, overarching philosophy. But the extent of these changes will be minimal.

Find the latest episode of the Pain in the Arsenal Podcast here — After Everton, good luck Mikel Arteta

Without a summer preseason to prepare the team and a transfer window to restructure the personnel of the squad, a head coach can only do so much in the space of a matter of weeks, no matter how much they try to change.

More from Pain in the Arsenal

• 3 standout players from 1-0 victory over Everton
• 3 positives & negatives from Goodison Park victory
• Arsenal vs PSV preview: Prediction, team news & lineups
• 3 talking points from Arsenal’s victory at Goodison Park
• Mikel Arteta provides Gabriel Martinelli injury update after Everton win

For Mikel Arteta, he must accept these inherent limitations. He will be keen to get off to a hot start as Arsenal head coach, make no mistake about it, but he must also be humble and aware enough to recognise that he is not just going to hit the ground running and turn the team’s fortunes around overnight. Football very rarely works like that, and even the best coaches in the world cannot enact such miraculous and quick change.

Nevertheless, despite all this realism, there is a natural optimism for when Arsenal take to the pitch against Bournemouth on Boxing Day. Arteta has been reportedly drilling the players on the training ground all week, including a full session on Christmas Day, which is unusual in modern football, and the players have been impressed with the changes he has made. He has also stated of the demands he will ask of the players, expecting nothing less from them, letting them know they will be dropped if they do not perform to the required standard.

And so, on Boxing Day, expect to see some changes in the Gunners’ performance. It might be how the team is set up, with certain players used in certain positions ahead of others. It might be the overall approach that is altered. It might be a tactical nuance and detail that Arteta is looking to install. Whatever it may be, there will be change, just the extent of it will be limited.

From what can be gleaned from highly PR-focused training videos, Arteta’s comments in press conferences, and his coaching heritage under Pep Guardiola, it would be fair to expect the team to play in a more fluent, possession-dominant fashion, looking to play simply and quickly from deep areas to keep the ball, build attacking moves, break out of the high press, and control the match as a result.

The players tried this tactic under Unai Emery with mixed success. But while there were some very poor performances as a result of this approach, that does not mean the philosophy itself is wrong. Emery’s execution was poor, but playing out from the back, as modern football is consistently proving, is necessary. Maybe Arteta can instil a more successful system.

Do not expect a revolutionised Arsenal on Thursday. You will be disappointed if you do. But Arteta will make changes, and the trip to Bournemouth will be the first time we see them in action. We just don’t know what they are, yet.